Welcome Guest! The IOSH forums are a free resource to both members and non-members. Login or register to use them

Postings made by forum users are personal opinions. IOSH is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any of the information contained in forum postings. Please carefully consider any advice you receive.

Notification

Icon
Error

Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
ShaunBaker91  
#1 Posted : 22 March 2018 09:25:42(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
ShaunBaker91

Hello all,

I have a friend who has been asked to go to a property developer to provide service in the form of:

- Safety management system

- Risk assessment

- policy writing, etc.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out in advising a suitable day rate to charge, as this is a new area to both myself and my friend?

Edited by user 22 March 2018 10:00:42(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Ian Bell2  
#2 Posted : 22 March 2018 10:54:38(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ian Bell2

How long is a piece of string?

Depends on many factors.

However a typical H&S salary is around £45k

Hint - there are about 220 working days per year or 1880hrs yr (40hrs/week x 47 weeks/yr).

Are you expecting to get paid for every hour or as many consultants might only get paid for 75% of available hours.

So back calculate from that a daily rate, not forgetting to allow for business taxes if working via your own Ltd company.

I have recently seen rates as low as £30/hr... which is pathetic.

What does your local plumber/electrican/garage charge? Presume you want to get paid at least the same.

thanks 1 user thanked Ian Bell2 for this useful post.
ShaunBaker91 on 22/03/2018(UTC)
peter gotch  
#3 Posted : 26 March 2018 12:23:34(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

....and lots of other variables including the experience, qualifications etc of your friend, how much Professional Indemnity Insurance they want to take out and so on.

Property Developer might well be looking for lump sum fees for certain elements. Beware if e.g. systems are going to end up going through numerous versions before adoption.

Rates could also be variable according to the nature of the client and the type of work. For example, my hourly rate is much lower on work done under Frameworks for major clients than for e.g. expert witness commissions on a one off basis.

thanks 1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
Steve e ashton on 27/03/2018(UTC)
Zyggy  
#4 Posted : 26 March 2018 15:49:20(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Zyggy

Excellent advice from both Ian & Peter, & it was something I agonised about when I first started out as a consultant! There is always the phenomena where if you ask for a low rate, there is an assumption from some organisations that you can't be that good! I found this out when I was approached to do some expert witness work by solicitors & our figures were miles apart....theirs were much higher! So in a nutshell, don't undersell yourself!
Ian Bell2  
#5 Posted : 26 March 2018 22:26:10(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ian Bell2

Agree with #3. charge rates also depend on your own experience/qualification.

Additionally which industry you work in also affects charge rates

I work in design & process safety, even with relatively low oil prices fees remain better than general safety rates.

Safety engineering commands (usually) a better rate than occupational safety.

chris42  
#6 Posted : 27 March 2018 07:57:13(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
chris42

Originally Posted by: Ian Bell2 Go to Quoted Post

However a typical H&S salary is around £45k

:o(
Andrew W Walker  
#7 Posted : 27 March 2018 08:03:35(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Andrew W Walker

Originally Posted by: chris42 Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Ian Bell2 Go to Quoted Post

However a typical H&S salary is around £45k

:o(

:o(   indeed...

Kate  
#8 Posted : 27 March 2018 08:33:27(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

In IOSH's last salary survey, the average salary was £40k.

Ian Bell2  
#9 Posted : 27 March 2018 09:02:00(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ian Bell2

Its easy enough to get an initial ball park figure to work out what a consultant needs to charge to cover his salary. There are plenty of websites that produce tax estimates, broken down into annual/monthly/weekly amounts.

I use this site https://worksmart.org.uk/tools/tax-calculator because it breaks figures down into the weekly/monthly figures etc.

After that, add on an 'inefficiency' factor - to try and effectively get paid for 100% of the yearly hours - because in reality most consultants work probably more in the 60-75% rate of client chargeable hours.

As previous also add in business taxes and business costs - insurance etc.

The last time I called a plumber out to my house, he was charging £65/hr.

I don't see that h&s consultants should be charging less.

lorna  
#10 Posted : 28 March 2018 07:30:57(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
lorna

When I was self-employed, I had different rates - hourly rate, half day was 3 x hourly, whole day was slightly rounded down (not quite 8 x hourly). I had a different rate for the public sector/charity, mainly because the NHS have capped rates and local govt/charities were aware of it.

I was also willing to negotiate a little lower for longer term/contract work.

thanks 1 user thanked lorna for this useful post.
Zyggy on 28/03/2018(UTC)
Zyggy  
#11 Posted : 28 March 2018 09:29:51(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Zyggy

Lorna, that's the way I have approached it as well, but the only addition I would make is to factor in what exactly the client wants me to do for them & the level of specialism/experience required.

Users browsing this topic
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.